Propeller-feathering means.



D. FORD. PROPELLER FEATHER'ING MEANS. APPLICATION FILED sEP Ths. I914.

1,1;19. 'Patnted Oct. 26, 1915.

,2 SHEETS-SHEET lvzwi m m D. FORD.

PROPELLER FEATHERING MEANS- APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 8. 1914.

' Patented Oct. 26

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

II N VV///////// 1 mEMZiifi/f/A?! DAVID FORD, OF ELDORADO, OKLAHOMA.

PROIPELLER-FEATHERING MEANS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented met. 26, 1915..

Application filed September 8, 1914.. Serial No. 860,712.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, DAVID FORD, a citizen of the United States, residingat Eldorado,

in the county of Jackson and State of Oklahoma, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Propeller-Feathering Means; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear,'and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art towhichit appertains to make and use the same.

llhis invention comprehends certain new and useful improvements inpropeller feathering means and has for its primary object to provide adevice of this character which will be of simple construction andoperation and by means of which the inclination of the propeller bladesmay be readily varied or reversed, as desired, to

control movement of the machine.

Another object is to provide a device of this character in which thefeathering means will be slidably mounted upon the propeller shaft andconnected with the opposite propeller blades, whereby movement in onedirection of the feathering means uponthe propeller shaft will changethe angle of inclination of the blades while movement in a reversedirection of said feathering means will reverse the position of theblades and properly regulate the inclination thereof.

A further object of this invention is to provide a feathering means ofthis character which will be composed of a minimum number of parts ofsimple formation and which may be readily assembled and adjust-- ed andeasily operated by a hand lever within convenient reach of the operator.

A still further object of this invention is to generally improve andsimplify the construction and operation of devices of this character andincrease the efficiency thereof lowing description and accompanyingdrawlngs, in which- I Figure 1 is a side elevational view of my devicein use, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section thereof, Fig. 3 is afragmentary detail sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is adetail sectional view on the line 4l of Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 is a detailcross sectional View on the line 55 of Fig. 2.

Referring in detail to the drawings by numerals, 1 designates thepropeller shaft which has the collar 2 keyed upon its outer end, asshown in 3, and provided with oppositely directed and parallel sockets 4formed on its opposite sides, in which are rotatably mounted the reducedand rounded inner ends 5 of the propeller blades 6, said blades 6 beingprevented from working out of the sockets 4, by means of the threadedscrew 7 secured in the inner extremities thereof and having their headsbearing against the inner ends of the sockets 4, as clearly shown inFig. 3, and two smaller screws 7 extending through the heads of thescrews 7 and into the adjacent ends of the blades 6.

It will be understood that the main portions of the blades 6 areoppositely directed and the inclination or direction of the blades 6 maybe readily regulated by proper movement of the rods 8, which have theirouter ends looselv connected to the blades 6, adj acent the inner endsof the main portions thereof, while the inner ends of said rods 8 arepivoted to diametrically opposite parts of the adjusting member 9, whichis threaded upon the sleeve 10, adjacent the outer end thereof.

It will be understood that the rods 8 are connected with the flangedportion of the adjusting member 9 which may be turned upon the sleeve 10which sleeve is slidably keyed to the shaft 1 to retain the blades 6 inthe desired position. A second adjusting member 11 is threaded upon thesleeve 10 a spaced distance from the adjusting member 9, and between theadjusting members 9 and 11 is positioned a non-rotating sleeve. 12,which has an inwardly directed flange 13, for engagement between saidmembers 9; and 11, for a purpose which will presently appear.v To reducefriction to the minimum,

I have provided two sets of bearing balls 14 engaged upon opposite facesof the inwardly directed flange 13 and resting in the annular channels15 formed in the adjacent faces of the members 9 and 11.

The bearing members 9 and 11 are properly adjusted upon the sleeve 10 sothat upon inward movement of the non-rotating sleeve 12, the adjustingmembers 9 and 11 and the slidable sleeve 10 will be drawn inwardly todraw the rods 8 inwardly and thereby reverse the inclination of I thepropeller blades 6.

The non-rotating sleeve 12 has two connecting arms 16; said arms 16 andsleeve 12 being made in one and the same piece. The inner ends of theconnecting arms 16 are pivoted at diametrically opposite points to thedivided'lever 18, preferably at the central portion thereof, by thepivot pins 19, said divided lever 18 having elongated longitudinal slots18 for the pivot pins 19.

The divided lever 18 is preferably formed of a pair of bars bowedoutwardly at their central portion and connected at their opposite endsby the bolts 20 and 21. The bolt 20 passes through the upstandingportion of the supporting bracket 22 which issecured to the frame 23 ofthe flying machine or other device upon which the propeller is employed,said bracket 22 being secured to the frame 23, as shown at 24. Thesupporting bracket 22 serves to space the ends of the bars through whichthe bolt 20 projects, from one another, and the pivoted divided lever 18is adapted to swing upon the bolt 20 as a pivot. Mounted upon the bolt21 between the opposite ends of the bars forming the divided lever 18,is a pivoted auxiliary lever 25 which serves to separate said ends ofthe bars and which is fulcrumed intermediate its ends upon the fulcrumpin 26 mounted in a suitable supporting bracket 26'.

Pivoted to the opposite ends of the auxiliary lever 25, are the paralleloperating rods 27, which are pivoted at their inner ends to the handlever 28, to opposite sides of the fulcrum pin 29 which serves tofulcrum the hand lever 28 upon the rack segment 30, with the teeth 31 ofwhich is normally engaged the latch member 32 which may be readilydisengaged from the teeth 31 by pressing the finger 33, with which thelatch member 32 is connected, toward the free end of the hand lever 28.It will therefore be seen that by disengaging the latch member 32 fromthe teeth 31 and swinging the hand lever 28 in one direction upon thefulcrum pin29,the auxiliary lever 25 will be swung in the properdirection upon its fulcrum pin 26 to draw the divided lever 18 towardthe frame 23 and thereby draw inwardly the non-rotatable sleeve 12, theadjusting members 9 and 11, the slidable sleeve 10 and the rods 8 toreverse the blades 6. By again engaging the latch member 32 with theteeth 31, the hand lever 28 will be locked against movement, therebysecuring the blades 6 of the propeller in the desired adjusted positionand inclination. It will also be evident that by moving the hand lever28 in the reverse direction, the direction of movement of the slidablesleeve 10 andparts engaged around the same, as well as the arms 8 and 16will be changed, thereby again reversing the position of the blades 6 ofthe propeller, and it will therefore be apparent that the inclination ofthe blades 6 may be readily regulated as desired, to control themovement and speed of the flying machine "or other vehicle by which thepropeller is carried.

This feathering means for propeller blades will be especially desirableupon aeroplanes and the like, as the propeller blades may be quicklyreversed to reverse the action of the propeller and change the speed ofmovement of the machine when ascending or descending,. especially in asmall space. It will also be evident that owing to the construction andarrangement of the parts of this device, they may be readily assembledor taken apart and any of the parts replaced should they become worn orbroken.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction,combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is 1. A device of thev class described comprising thecombination .with a propeller shaft, blade carrying means mounted uponthe outer end of said propeller shaft, and propeller blades mounted insaid propeller blade carrying means, a sleeve slidable and keyed on saidshaft, a non-rotating member mounted upon said sleeve, said non-rotatingmember provided with inwardly directed flanges, ball bearings carried bythe inwardly directed flanges of the non-rotating sleeve, bearingmembers mounted upon said sleeve and positioned on opposite sides of thenon-rotating sleeve, connecting means between one of said bearingmembers and the propeller blades and means for moving the sleevelongitudinally of the shaft to turn the blades and vary the inclinationof the same.

2. A device of the class described comprising the combination with apropeller shaft, blade carrying means mounted upon said propeller shaft,said blade carrying means provided with oppositely disposed sockets,propeller blades mounted in said sockets, a sleeve slidably mounted andkeyed upon said shaft, bearing members rotatably mounted upon saidsleeve, a non-rotatable member provided with inwardly directed flangesmounted between said bearing members, said non-rotating member providedwith ball hearings to engage the inner faces of the bearing members,connecting links between one of said bearing members and the propellerblades for bearing the inclination of' the same upon movement of the 10sleeve. 1

In testimony whereof I affix my signature 1n presence of two Witnesses.

